A Different Path, A Different Life(REWRITE)
by Dragonsrule18
Summary: What if Eddie Brock and the symbiote decided that their bond was worth more than revenge? And what if their offspring had been spawned a few days later? A new path for our favorite anti-hero/former villian is formed, as they work to become a good guy and find their place in this world. Also starring Leslie Gesneria and a completely different Carnage. Eventual Eddie x Venom.
1. Chapter 1

A Different Path, A Different Life

 _ **Okay, so this is a rewrite of a story I wrote YEARS ago. When I first wrote A Different Path, A Different Life, I was a very, very new writer, such a greenhorn that I didn't even know there was supposed to be a new paragraph when a different person began speaking. My descriptions were terrible, and my characterization needed a lot of work.**_

 _ **I started getting into Venom again, seeing fan comics of the new movie(Haven't seen the new movie yet, waiting for it to come out on Netflix), and I wanted to give A Different Path, A Different Life a second chance, and I'm hoping this will be better. The symbiote and Eddie will still become good guys, Leslie will be still helping out the boys, and Cameron will still be there and be the same dorky guy he was in the original A Different Path, A Different Life, but there's going to be a lot of details changed.**_

 _ **Also, I mostly won't be bashing Spider-Man any more, though Eddie and the symbiote still feel like(and somewhat were) treated unfairly by him. But in Eddie's case, Spider-Man WAS trying to protect Dr. Connors, not hurt Eddie, and with the symbiote and Spider-Man, there was a SERIOUS lack of communication, trust, and clash of morals to the nth degree. So there might be some bashing of Spider-Man at the beginning due to Eddie and the symbiote being biased narrators and feeling hurt, but this will start to change as they learn how to forgive.**_

 _ **There might be some very mild bashing of Dr. Kafka(not treating her as a bitch) more just Eddie reacting much differently to what she says and does than he does in canon like getting annoyed that she treats him like he's deluded when in a world of super-powered good and bad guys and probes that go into different dimensions, his claims weren't exactly far fetched.**_

 _ **Needless to say, Eddie won't like her romantically. He won't hate her; he just doesn't really trust her.**_

 ** _As a warning, this WILL contain Eddie/Symbiote in somewhat of a romantic pairing. Eddie trusts and loves the symbiote more than anything and anyone in his life, and vice versa, and the bond will go from friendship to something much deeper. So if you don't like the ship, you might want to move onto another fic._**

 ** _Also, if I mucked up on any detail like location, let me know so I can fix it immediately. Also, this story will contain elements from both the comics and the Animated Series. This is an AU of both. A different world, where different choices were made which changes the fate of Eddie and the symbiote as well as the symbiote who, in another world, would be Carnage._**

 _ **Changes to Prologue: I went into a bit more detail, added more snark from Leslie, and went into more description on how it feels to be bonded with by a symbiote.**_

The chaos of New York City seemed so far away for Brad Adrian and Leslie Gesneria, a young couple fresh out of high school and enjoying their third date, relaxing on a picnic blanket under the stars in the woods outside the city; Brad stretched out with his head in his date's lap as they watched the stars. He hoped later in the night that there'd be some action.

And soon enough he got his wish, but it wasn't the type of action he wanted.

The couple jumped as a bright blue flash of light flew over their heads, closer than any shooting star.

"Hey, look!" Brad exclaimed, pointing up to the sky.

"I see it. What is that?" Leslie asked but before her boyfriend could answer, there was a loud explosion. Brad leapt to his feet and grabbed Leslie's hand, almost making her fall on her face as he ran in the direction the explosion had sounded.

"Um, shouldn't we be running AWAY from weird explosions?" Leslie asked but Brad didn't seem to be listening as he dragged her through the trees and towards a clearing.

"It landed right near here!" Brad told her, but Leslie could already tell this fact from the crater in the ground. "Let's see what it is! It might be worth something!"

"Or it could be very, very radioactive."

"Chill, Les, it's just a meteor. C'mon. Don't you want to see a space rock?" he asked.

Leslie sighed. "Okay, yes, I'll admit it. But we gotta be careful."

"Geez, quit worrying. It's just a rock." Brad picked up a stick and poked it.

But the object lying on the ground was no mere rock and Brad found this out the hard way. Gelationous black tentacles shot out from the charred greyish object and latched onto the stick. Both teenagers screamed as the creature started to wrap around Brad's hand.

Leslie, being the good-natured dumbass she was and worried for her date's safety, grabbed the ooze with her bare hands and tried to yank it off him. And it worked, but too well as the ooze quickly let him go, only to latch onto her tightly. She could feel it, cold and slimy, crawling up her arm. She screamed and struggled, but it wouldn't let go.

"Brad! Help!" she screamed.

But Brad didn't have the courage Leslie had. He started backing away, then ran for his life.

"Traitor!" she screamed, fighting back as the creature pulled itself out of the rock and wrapped itself around her body, cradling her, preventing any further movement but it surprisingly didn't hurt. She thought it might be the prelude to it dissolving her body or eating her brains or something. She kept screaming as it covered her from head to toe. Somehow, she could still breathe though, even as the ooze covered her mouth. For a second she couldn't see.

And then it all was gone.

She gasped, pressing her hands to her face, feeling only warm flesh. The black ooze had gone.

Had it even been there? Was it a hallucination? Had her so called boyfriend spiked her drink?

Or was it inside her and about to eat her internal organs?

Her heart raced. Cold sweat covered her body, making her shiver. And then she heard a small voice, slightly male sounding.

 _"No! Wait, I mean, yes on the first part, no on the second! I'm not going to hurt you! Look, I'm sorry I did this, but please...It's an emergency...I need help..."_


	2. A New Ally, A Mysterious Enemy

A New Ally, A Mysterious Enemy

 **I couldn't find much of a backstory on Leslie so I created my own. This takes place before she ever became a merc or even decided on it yet, though she has taken self defense and gun training.**

 **I mixed Eddie's and V's backstories with those in the comics and this will be a mix of everything, including possibly ideas from the Venom movie.**

 **Also, the symbiote will say multiple times in this chapter that they love Eddie. They do mean it, though they're probably not sure what form of love it is yet. V doesn't think quite like humans do and will just say what they feel and not worry about the definition of it.**

 **A guest reviewer asked a question which I'd like to answer here. There likely won't be any smut in this story, and I'm not sure what form Venom would take for their romantic interactions with Eddie. They may take their muscular humanoid form for things like cuddles and kisses, or they'll just form a head and arms, and if there is smut, they'll probably try to figure it out as they go. V has a slightly male sounding voice, but they don't identify as or have the sexual organs of a male or female, though if there does happen to be smut, they might form one or the other or even both.**

 **...**

Leslie was so freaked out, she froze in place. "Who the hell are you? WHAT are you?! Get the hell out of my brain!" She began to frantically claw at her skin, trying to get it out.

An invisible force grabbed hold of her arms, pulling them back gently. **_"Please stop! You're just going to hurt yourself. Please. Give me a few minutes to explain. I'm not going to hurt you."_**

"If you're not going to possess me or hurt me or some sort of crazy crap, why did you just take over my body?!" Leslie demanded. "What are you? What are you planning to do to me?!"

 ** _"I'm sorry I scared you. I really am, but I desperately need your help. I got separated from my host and I don't know where he is and I know he was hurt. Please...I'll leave you alone as soon as I find him, but I NEED to find him. I just want my friend back..."_** There was a shaky vulnerability in the creature's voice as it gave back control of her limbs and Leslie felt a huge wave of sadness, guilt, and grief, feelings that weren't her own, but feelings she understood with all her heart as she remembered her own loss.

 _((A bike lying broken in the parking lot, abandoned along with a little Superman backpack...frantic calls...talking to news stations...a face on a milk carton...a little brother that never came home.))_

 ** _"You lost someone too..."_** the creature whispered, its voice soft and full of understanding.

Leslie swiped away tears. "That wasn't for you to see. Stay out of my head." She tried to use her mind to push the creature away.

It seemed to move back with no hesitation. _**"I'm sorry. I'm used to connecting with my hosts mentally."** _it admitted. **_"But it does not give me the right to pry around in your memories. Please forgive me. I still have a lot to learn about humanity."_**

Leslie could tell the apology was sincere. She was still a little miffed but a lot calmer. She wasn't sure if she fully trusted this whole situation yet, but something about this blob of alien goop felt honest and scared and made her almost want to protect it as it reminded her slightly of her little brother, David. But she still needed answers and to maintain control of the situation. "Forget about it for now. Look, I'm going to give you your chance to explain. What's your host's name? Why do you even need a host? Did your host consent to it?"

 _ **"My host's name is Eddie Brock. And as for what I am, in your world it's called a symbiote. My kind needs a host to survive, but it's not just that for me." The symbiote was quiet for a minute. "I love Eddie. I was able to connect with him more than any other host I've ever been with. We've shared joy and sadness and anger and pain...Eddie called us two lost souls that were destined to find each other and become one. He's my other half. I am his."**_

"How did the two of you get separated? Where'd you get separated?"

 ** _"New York City. We had a fight with my former host, Spider-Man, and he forcibly separated us. The reason we were fighting him is that he tried to kill me and ruined my host's life...If you'll let me, I can show you the memories. It will be easier that way."_**

Intrigued, Leslie consented and as soon as she gave her permission, memories flashed through her mind. The symbiote, coming to Earth on a space shuttle, accidentally causing the shuttle to crash when attempting to bond with one of the astronauts, which Leslie could tell the symbiote felt guilty about. She saw it bond with Spider-Man and help him fight crime. It had saved his life numerous times, and tried to protect him from the villains he fought in the best way it could; by trying to make sure it couldn't happen again and attempting to eliminate the threat. Permanently.

Leslie was starting to see what was happening. Spider-Man was one of the superheroes that didn't kill if he had any sort of choice. She understood the symbiote's point of view, but she realized the clash of morals that must have happened.

The symbiote seemed to think that over as well before sending the next memory, of how their host had thought the black suit was turning him evil, when it wasn't. It really wasn't. All the symbiote had wanted to do was protect him and the anger he had felt was both his and the symbiote's combined anger as well as the adrenaline the symbiote had brought out to help increase Spider-Man's strength in the wake of all the danger he was in, not it trying to increase his anger on purpose.

"Did you try talking to him?" Leslie asked gently. She no longer thought the symbiote was evil, but hell, having something in your body that made you more angry, whether it meant to or not, would be truly terrifying, especially if you didn't know its intentions. She had been scared out of her mind until the symbiote had opened its non-existent mouth and actually told her what was going on.

 ** _"I was afraid. My first attempt at finding a permanent host rejected me when I spoke. I didn't want to be rejected again...I thought if he thought I was just a suit, he'd be less afraid and more likely to accept me. And every time I hinted to being more, I ended up scaring him more. I thought if I just kept quiet he'd be okay with me. But I was wrong."_**

The symbiote showed her the next memory, a fight with a villain named Electro where again the symbiote had tried to kill to protect his host. Leslie could feel the hurt in the symbiote's mind and hear the thoughts that whispered, _"Didn't he understand that Electro was trying to kill him? Why wouldn't he let me stop the threat permanently?"_ And then she could feel the symbiote's remembered heartbreak even further as a memory of Spider-Man tearing of the symbiotic suit, using the horrible sound of the bells, ignoring the symbiote's cries of pain.

And then the symbiote was alone again. Rejected once again. It hurt as much as being banished by their kind for wanting a mutual bond with their host, for wanting to do what they felt was the right thing. It hurt so much and the symbiote also felt anger for being hurt again for what felt like no reason.

Still feeling horrible pain, the symbiote had traveled down, finding Eddie Brock where he had been webbed to one of the bells. The symbiote had needed a host desperately, especially so weakened. They had clung to Eddie, bonding with him the way he had Leslie. But they wanted to know, needed to know, if Eddie could accept this bond before it was completed. They couldn't go through that pain again, couldn't get attached to someone who would throw them away.

They couldn't remain silent any more.

So they spoke. If they were shunned, they barely knew Eddie; it couldn't hurt as much as it had with Spider-Man. But they had to know once and for all. It would be like peeling off a band-aid.

But they weren't rejected. After a few minutes of gentle coaxing and reassuring Eddie that they were NOT about to eat his brain, they were embraced.

After all, he was as lonely as they were. Hurt by the same person. Eddie wanted revenge. They did too.

But even more, they both wanted to be loved, wanted to be accepted for who they were by someone.

And they found it in each other.

They had three weeks together. Three weeks of anger at Spider-Man, of preparing for battle, of planning revenge, but in the quiet moments when training was over and anger had been spent, there had been softer moments. Eddie loved showing the symbiote his favorite things about Earth, treating them to new foods, taking them to the bay, the park, places Eddie found peaceful. There was watching TV and talking and sharing their pasts. Of creating new memories together.

And then it all had been torn away.

...

The symbiote paused to give Leslie a break to process the avalanche of information they had just dumped on her.

"I sort of understand what made you so pissed at Spider-Man, but why does Eddie hate him? And is this about you two getting back together so you can get revenge on Spider-Man? Because I think I saw part of your last battle on the news, and yeah, not a fan of another one of those happening. You two might not have caused the most destruction of any villain, but I'm not a big fan of letting another super powered rumble happen again. Those cause enough damage and a civilian could get hurt, so if this is all about a vendetta..."

 ** _"It's not about that! I care about Eddie! He...He saw me as a friend, not a source of power. Like I told you, I love him. I want to make him happy and see him smile. I miss him. And...the two of us...we have a lot of similarities. It's one of the reasons I'm so worried about him."_**

Leslie was concerned. "What do you mean?"

 ** _"I won't show you his memories. And I can't tell you all of it. He's like you; there is some information he wouldn't want revealed to someone he doesn't know. But I'm really scared for him, so I'll tell you what I can._ _few months ago, he worked as a reporter for the Daily Bugle. He found out that a scientist named Curt Connors had used a genetic enhancer and managed to mutate himself into a giant lizard."_**

 _"_ Only in New York _…"_ Leslie mumbled.

 ** _"May I finish?"_** the symbiote asked, slightly irritated.

Leslie smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

 _"Thank you. Eddie found out and was going to report it when Spider-Man tied him up. He got loose a few hours later and reported it to his boss, J. Jonah Jameson. By that time, Spider-Man managed to cure the Lizard and gave the pictures of his fight with the Lizard to the paper as Peter Parker. When Eddie and J. Jonah Jameson got to the Connor's residence, Dr. Connors was back to normal. Eddie was fired. He...lost a lot more than his job."_ The symbiote didn't think Eddie would appreciate it if they told Leslie that Eddie's father had rejected, disowned, and abandoned him for being a "liar" and not living up to his expectations, so they left it at that and tried to hide yet another prickle of anger at Eddie's so called family. Eddie had wanted to please him so badly and his father's coldness had devastated him. Just like it had devastated the symbiote when they had been banished by their kind.

"Yikes." Leslie winced in sympathy.

 ** _"When the space shuttle that brought me here crashed, its contents were robbed. Eddie tried to get his job back by reporting who the robber was. He thought it was Spider-Man. It wasn't. It turned out to be a supervillian called the Rhino, and Eddie was fired again. And to make things worse, he had gotten really sick. He thought it was just from stress over what happened, but he wasn't getting any better so he had to go to the doctor's for it. It...It was cancer and he couldn't afford the treatment. Thanks to what Spider-Man did, he couldn't even afford his apartment..."_**

Leslie covered her mouth in horror. 'Oh god...How bad was...Is he okay?"

 ** _"When I bonded with him, I consumed all the cancer cells and healed him, but...but I heard from his mind that cancer can come back sometimes. What if it did?! What if it came back and with me not around to remove it, what...what if he..."_**

Leslie could literally feel her body shaking from a now trembling symbiote going through a panic attack. She could feel their terror that they had arrived too late and Eddie might be extremely sick or even...

It was this fear, this...humanity...for lack of a better word inside this creature that made her come to a decision.

She opened her mouth, ready to assure the symbiote that she would help them reunite with Eddie and that they had to keep believing that Eddie would be okay.

But before she could say anything, someone else was there with them.

...

Leslie whirled around. It was a strange man with dark hair and a mustache and goatee, wearing a green and yellow tight fitting jumpsuit with yellow swirls in the center. Before she could even ask who he was or what he was doing, his eyes glowed bright yellow. Leslie found herself unable to move, mesmerized and willing to take any orders.

The symbiote however, was unaffected. And extremely pissed. It lashed out at the man with dark tentacles, throwing him off his feet, which managed to break his concentration. Leslie snapped into awareness again as the symbiote formed itself around her protectively and let out a ferocious snarl.

The man was caught off guard, allowing the symbiote enough time to shoot a white web-like substance from Leslie's hands, sending the man flying against a tree. But he soon started to recover, his hands glowing with a greenish light. They barely dodged the green laser blasts that came from each of his hands.

Leslie and the symbiote knew they were outmatched. This guy was powerful. Leslie had some self defense and gun training, but she was unarmed and not the symbiote's true host. The symbiote wanted to fight and kill the man for daring to try to harm their temporary host, but they knew they could get Leslie hurt if they did, especially since they couldn't work together as effectively with Leslie as they could with Eddie. Especially since Leslie seemed to be trying to go in a separate direction. The symbiote tapped into her surface thoughts.

Leslie was frantically trying to figure out what to do. _"Damn it, I had to forget my stupid gun at home...Can't get close enough to hit him if he can shoot lasers out of his hands...We're no match out here in the open...I was trained to deal with human bad guys, not supervillains, think of something, Leslie...We need to get into the forest, corner him, make him hit something, just get away..."_

It was a smart idea and the symbiote let Leslie's mind direct them.

They ran.

The symbiote took control of Leslie as they were faster than her, using the powers inherited from Spider-Man, keeping close hold of their temporary host as they shot out webbing grabbing hold of tree branches and swinging through the forest, trying to lose their attacker or make him run into a tree, whatever happened first. As the man followed, Leslie had an idea. The symbiote responded by grabbing a low hanging branch and quickly lifted it so they could slip under, then released it. Their attacker couldn't stop in time and it slammed right into his face.

 ** _"Good idea, Leslie."_**

 _"Thanks. Saw it in a movie once. Wait, I never said that out loud, how'd...Oh right, telepathic alien. Never mind."_

Before the symbiote could reply, a slightly see through green version of the man suddenly appeared in front of them right out of thin air. The symbiote tried to skid to a stop instinctively and ended up going through the man. It was an illusion, hologram, something but neither they or Leslie knew exactly what. They then took off again, not seeing the man open his mouth to speak. They wouldn't have cared if they had, so great was their and Leslie's panic.

...

It was fifteen minutes of swinging through the forest before the symbiote felt safe enough to stop. They looked around.

No one.

They both sighed in relief and dropped to the ground as Leslie tried to get her stomach to stop doing flip-flops. "I don't know how Spider-Man stands this. I feel like I'm about to hurl. Who the hell was that anyway?"

 _"I don't know. I never met him, or saw him in Spider-Man's memories."_

"Oh great. Just what New York needed. A new super villain. We'd better get out of here fast and find Eddie before Creepy finds us. I don't know what he wanted with me, but I'm sure as hell not going to give it to him."

 _"You'll help me?"_ She could hear the hope in the symbiote's voice.

"Yeah, least I can do. You saved my ass. Now let's go before Super Whackjob comes back."

The symbiote eagerly agreed and Leslie started to direct them back towards the city and her apartment.

...

(Baron Mordo's Lair)

Baron Mordo cautiously entered his Underground lair where he know Dormammu was waiting. His master would NOT be pleased with this development. Passing under the wooden door with deadly spikes at the bottom, he knelt by the white crystal showing the demon's head.

"Did you retrieve the symbiote?" Dormammu asked immediately, his flaming eyes glaring at Mordo. Mordo had the feeling he already knew the answer.

"There were some...unexpected complications. The symbiote managed to gain the trust and cooperation of its host. before I could reach them. The host was easily hypnotized, but the symbiote perceived me as a threat and attacked before escaping with its host. They managed to evade me."

The flames around around Dormammu's head flared up, turning bright blue with rage. "You fool! We need the symbiote's loyalty and for it to bond to Eddie Brock again for our plan to succeed."

Baron Mordo tried to placate him. "The symbiote still wishes to rejoin Eddie Brock. Its loyalty to him is still extremely strong. They will seek him out. They will be going right where we need them."

Dormammu calmed a little, the flames around his head returning to their normal orange. "Good. Now go to Ravencroft Sanitarium and contact Eddie Brock. It is time for him to play his part in our affair."

"Yes, master. I will find the symbiote as well."

"As long as the symbiote is going to Ravencroft Sanitarium, it is of lesser concern. If we get Eddie Brock's cooperation, the symbiote will follow. Make sure you are around when they become one again and let them know EXACTLY who is responsible for their reunion. Their loyalty and anger at Spider-Man will cause them to play right into our hands."

...

The screen disappeared in swirls of purple smoke as Madame Webb finished watching this scene. "You know what they say about the best laid plans." she muttered with a smirk.

She could already see the future shifting for Eddie Brock and the symbiote. The symbiote was letting go of its hate in the face of its overwhelming love for Eddie Brock. Their bond was much stronger here than it was in the Omega Timeline and the symbiote gaining the help of sarcastic, logical Leslie Gesneria rather than just possessing her was a major step in the right direction, for their future AND Leslie's.

And if Eddie Brock made the right choices as well, it would change EVERYTHING.

With only a slight flicker of her will, the screen focused on Ravencroft Sanitarium.


	3. Doctors, Psychopaths, And Decisions

Doctors, Psychopaths, and Decisions

 **As a warning, there is some stuff that could be very well considered Spider-Man bashing. Please remember though that Eddie is a biased narrator and is very hurt by what Spider-Man did, though Spider-Man was trying to protect his friend, not ruin Eddie's life.**

 **Eddie didn't see the hero that was trying his best; he only knew of the effects it had on his life and he was genuinely telling the truth about the Lizard. Remember, he doesn't know Peter Parker was trying to help his aunt by submitting those pictures, or that Peter was simply terrified by having his mind suddenly attached to a creature that made him feel like it was trying to take control of him. He can feel the pain of his symbiote, but he's never been in the mind of Peter Parker, and Peter has never been in the mind of Eddie Brock, so he didn't know Eddie was trying to make his father proud and also protect the city, nor does he know the symbiote was not evil and in fact was trying to help him but went about it the wrong way.**

 **There's a lot of hurt and misunderstanding and everyone there has made mistakes.**

 **Eventually the three will come to an understanding.**

 **...**

"I wanted to be a warrior. Fighting injustice, fighting for the innocent people. I guess...I guess that's why I became a journalist." Eddie told Dr. Ashley Kafka, his prison therapist. He remembered finding out that Dr. Connors had been experimenting with genetic technology and had somehow ended up mutating himself into a lizard man, one who had kidnapped some poor sewer worker. He had been proud of himself for that, for solving the mystery. He would turn the story in and Dr. Connors would be stopped. He would have saved the whole town!

And maybe his father would have actually been proud of him for once.

But instead, Spider-Man had tied him to a telephone pole and by the time he gotten free, Spider-Man had found, fought, and according to what his beloved symbiote had mentioned later from what they knew of Spider-Man's memories, cured the Lizard, turning him back into Curt Connors, but not before getting his own pictures of the Lizard and turning them into the paper as Peter Parker to get his thousand dollar prize.

And Eddie had been made to look like a liar, even though he had been telling the truth the whole time. He had been fired, his father had disowned him without even letting him tell his side of the story, and the rest of his family refused to talk to him as well.

Not even when tests revealed he had advanced adrenal cancer.

They didn't care even then. Maybe they thought he was lying again or maybe they just didn't want to deal with the dumpster fire that was him and his life.

The only one who truly ever cared for him, the only one who ever _understood_ him, was V. Calling them "the symbiote" had been too impersonal for Eddie, and the symbiote insisted Venom was their name when they were together, not the symbiote's name alone. So Eddie had suggested simply calling the symbiote V.

V liked having a name. They had been so grateful for something so small, just happy to be cared for by someone. Like Eddie, they had been banished, left as an outcast by their own family simply for wanting a mutual bond with a host. The rest of the Klyntar race had considered them both weak and a traitor for sympathizing and wanting a mutual bond with their host. They had been thrown on a meteorite and left to the fates. Their first attempt to bond had met with terror and V fleeing, and their second had ended in Spider-Man rejecting them, falsely thinking V was evil even though V had tried so hard to help him, to make him stronger.

Eddie closed his eyes and remembered the feeling of V pumping through his veins, helping him work out. The way V had curled around his waist and rested a little noodle head with big white eyes on his shoulder while they watched TV late at night. The way V had wanted so badly to be a good guy, to help and protect Eddie, to prove they were more than a parasite.

V may have not been the goody goody "throw the bad guy in jail and not kill anyone ever" type of hero, but like Eddie, they wanted to protect the innocent from the unimaginable by making sure the threat was taken out. They weren't afraid to maim or kill someone trying to seriously harm or kill innocents or their host. They were especially protective of Eddie.

"Eddie?" Dr. Kafka's voice asked, breaking him out of his memories.

He blinked and looked up into the doctor's green eyes. "V...they wanted to be good too. They tried so hard..." He remembered one of the nights they had ran through the city as Venom, leaping from roof to roof as V showed him how Spider-Man's powers worked. They heard a young woman being mugged by some crook at gunpoint and had leapt down and brutally attacked the mugger to keep him away from the woman, probably breaking his bones at the very least. When the thief had stopped moving they had turned to the woman and handed her back her purse, but the woman, probably both traumatized from the mugging and the way they had stopped it, had run screaming. V had been saddened by this and had not understood at all why the woman had run away when she was safe now, but Eddie had comforted them by telling them that they had saved the woman's life and told V how good they had done, which made the symbiote wriggle with happiness and purr like a cat. V loved praise, loved making Eddie happy, loved being good. Eddie had stolen the mugger's wallet as another little bit of payback and gave most to charity, but kept enough for rent, food, and to buy V the biggest chocolate shake he could find, which made the symbiote even happier. V was so sweet, took so much joy in small things...

"I still can't believe Spider-Man tossed them out like they were yesterday's garbage." Eddie continued. "Spider-Man pretends to be a good guy, but he's a hypocrite! He never even TRIED to understand V or why they did what they did. That symbiote did so much for him and he left them in pain, injured, and alone. All they wanted was to help him, and he left them to die in a church! He didn't care about them!" Eddie took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself. "But I did. V and I...when we joined together...We could do anything. But first we needed to destroy Spider-Man for all that he had done to us. But now there's no more us. Only me. And I'm stuck here in this cell. I can't help or protect or save them...All I can do is wait for my other half to return so we can become Venom once more."

Dr. Kafka gave him a look of pity, tapping her pen on her pad. "Not "we," Eddie. This Venom thing never existed. It's just a stress related delusion brought on by Spider-Man's wrongful persecution of you."

"He persecuted me all right! He humilated me! He made me lose my job...my health...my apartment...my symbiote who is indeed very real." The look of worry and pity in Dr. Kafka's eyes increased and Eddie let out a sad laugh. "You think I'm crazy, don't you? Spider-Man can stick to walls. Mutants exist. Super powered villains and heroes are roaming the city. Thor's an alien and no one seems to question it. Hell, I heard in the paper that Stark Industries is building some weird machine to send stuff through an inter-dimensional portal because they're too lazy to use a truck. So if all that stuff exists, and no one thinks it's crazy, answer me this, Dr. Kafka. Why are you so insistent on me believing V doesn't exist? Alien symbiotes aren't any more crazy than other stuff out there, and I know I'm beefy, but do you really think I could do all the stuff I did as Venom by myself? And what about my medical tests? I had adrenal cancer. Now I don't. It didn't just walk away; V cured me. They cured me because they care about me, and I damn well care about them. All of you may want to denounce me as a crazy liar, but I'm telling the truth! And I'm not going to deny the existence of my best freaking friend! That's the only thing I can do for them now while I"m stuck here."

"Eddie. I don't think you're crazy. I think you're lonely. I think you created V as a second personality to be there for you after everything you've been through, especially your false cancer scare."

"It wasn't false! Check the tests yourself; I wasn't lying."

"It had to be a mistake. Your results may have been mixed up with someone else's."

"It wasn't!" Eddie shook a bit. "No matter what Spider-Man led people to believe, I'm not a liar. But I'm still stuck here and everyone thinks I'm insane and I can't help V. Spider-Man tied them to a rocket and they're in space somewhere and I can't do anything. V's gone. V's gone, and I don't know when they're coming back. All because of HIM." Eddie clenched his fists. "I hate that slimy little..."

Dr. Kafka shook her head, making her brown bangs fall into her eyes, and placed a hand on Eddie's shoulder. Eddie turned away to avoid her look of pity disguised as sympathy. "Hatred's not going to help, Eddie. You have so much potential. I know you're angry, and I know you're scared. I know you feel alone. But you don't need V. You can make some new friends, have some real human company." She took his hands and squeezed them gently, and Eddie turned to look at her. There was warmth in her eyes, still that look of pity, but also something else. "I'm here for you, and together we're going to get you through this."

For a split second, Eddie thought about at least pretending. Pretending V was a delusion. Latching onto her to try to fill the empty, aching void left when V was torn away. She was right about one thing; he was lonely. He had been lonely all his life until V came along and given him the three best weeks of his life before being ripped from him, leaving him feeling even more empty because he had finally had the feeling of someone caring for him unconditionally, loving him as he was, understanding him in a way no one else could. And now V was gone. He didn't want to be alone any more.

But if, and this was a big if, Dr. Kafka even wanted to be something more for him than his prison therapist, he couldn't use her as a substitute for V. It wouldn't be fair to V, her, or himself. She wasn't even close to whatever V had been for him. He didn't have any real feelings for her, not even friendship as he couldn't trust her if she was trying so hard to convince him he was delusional despite all his evidence to the contrary. He couldn't force himself to pretend to make himself feel better...heck, he couldn't even pretend just to get out of here. The very idea of pretending V was a delusion made him sick. He knew that it made no logical sense that he should keep sticking to the truth when it kept it stuck in here, but it felt like pretending would be too close to saying V was gone for good or worse, dead. And he refused to believe his beloved symbiote was dead. V was tough. They had survived being sent through space on a meteor, they could survive a probe! They would come back to him. They would find a way. They were stubborn.

He had to believe in them.

He heard Dr. Kafka say something and again snapped out of his thoughts. Damn, he had to stop doing that around someone who already thought he was crazy. "Sorry, got lost in my thoughts. What was that, Doctor?"

"Our time's up, Eddie. We'll continue this tomorrow." she said gently. She patted his shoulder again before getting up and leaving his cell. He half thought about trying to use the open door to make a break for it but knew he wouldn't get far, plus they'd just add more time to his sentence. He had already tried escaping twice when he had first got to Ravencroft, driven half mad by the separation, fever, and his desire to find V and save them, even though he had no idea how the hell he was supposed to find a rocket.

It hadn't worked then, and it wouldn't work now, so he would wait.

"Man, what a dump. No pool, no stereo, and weirdos everywhere you look!" a high pitched, crazed male voice said and Eddie glanced up to see some skinny ginger guy in a straitjacket being led through the prison by two uniformed guards. The man leaned as close as he could to Dr. Kafka as they passed her. "Aren't you going to give me some therapy, beautiful lady?!" he called out before letting out another insane laugh before the guards literally threw him into his cell.

Dr. Kafka just ignored him. "Goodnight, Eddie."

Eddie mumbled a half hearted good night while keeping a wary eye on the other prisoner as the guards closed his cell. He swore he had seen him in the paper somewhere.

As Dr. Kafka walked past the red-headed guy's cell with the guards, the guy called out, "Aren't you going to give me a goodbye kiss?! Or are you afraid I'm gonna BITE?!" He reached his arm through the bars as if miming roughly grabbing Dr. Kafka. Dr. Kafka cringed, though she tried to hide it, and the guards put themselves between her and the man.

Yep, this guy was a class A scumbag. And while Eddie didn't really like Dr. Kafka, she was still an innocent person and he wasn't going to let someone talk to a lady like that. "Hey, you! Shut up!" Wow. If...When! he got V back, they would have to work on their witty banter.

The guy gripped his bars and glared at Eddie with a sadistic smirk. "Hey, man, I could eat you for breakfast!"

"Oh yeah?! Well, I'd give you indigestion...Man!" Eddie retorted then inwardly rolled his eyes at how that came out. Another original witticism from the mind of Edward Brock. Neither he or V were good at making up clever threats on the spur of the moment. He moved further back into his cell and sat down on his cot, hiding a laugh as he remembered how V, inspired to do some "tough talk" by a bad action movie they had watched, had either deliberately or accidentally got their sayings confused and told that mugger they were going to tear off his head, arms, and legs until he was nothing more than a turd in the wind. V had been so serious and was trying so hard that Eddie had hidden his laughter at how freaking weird and hilarious that particular threat was. At least Venom being a nine foot tall monster with incredibly sharp teeth had done the job of making the mugger pee his pants.

His heart ached at the memory and he missed V even more if that was possible. He ignored the crazy guy's ranting in the other cell and laid down, pulling his blanket over him. Still, the prison was cold and he shivered. Any time he had been cold when V was around, V would either turn into a nice thick sweater or a blanket depending on what they were doing and snuggle close until Eddie warmed up.

But V wasn't around anymore to keep him warm. Eddie felt like he would never be warm again.

Eddie bit back the fear that V was dead or that Dr. Kafka was right and V had never been. He knew V was real! And until he found V's dead body, he wasn't going to let go of them. He wouldn't give up on the symbiote the way everyone else had.

Trying to comfort himself, he thought of his favorite memory with V, trying to bring the warmth and happiness that the memory always held.

...

 _ **"Eddie, why are they running from that guy? There's five of them and he's only one. They could fight and kill him! So why would they just run and let him kill them one by one?"** V asked as the two of them cuddled on the couch, their tentacles wrapping gently around Eddie while their head, teeth retracted, rested on his shoulder, watching the bad B-list slasher film Eddie had picked intensely._

 _"They're scared, V. And people in horror movies never make good decisions." Eddie told him as he watched one of the terrified teenagers hide behind a tree and try to keep still so the masked serial killer wouldn't find her._ _Eddie knew they were doomed but he still nearly jumped out of his skin when the killer's machete stabbed through the tree and the hapless victim's body._

 _V instinctively tightened their grip on Eddie protectively, though not enough to hurt._

 _Eddie stroked their head. "it's okay, V. It's just a movie."_

 ** _"If we were there, we would have killed him before he even got close."_**

 _"I know, V. If you were in the horror movie, it would have only been two minutes long because you would have killed the bad guy before they could hurt anyone."_

 ** _"WE would have. You wouldn't have let them hurt anyone either."_**

 _"You're right. That killer wouldn't have stood a chance against us." Eddie agreed, continuing to pet V's head, making the symbiote purr like a kitten as t_ _hey continued watching the movie. V loved to be touched, held, and cuddled. They soaked up affection like a sponge and Eddie was all too happy to give it to them._

 ** _"Why would they run into the basement?! They can't get away from the killer in there!"_** _V protested as the three teenagers left ran into the basement of the abandoned cabin in the woods to hide._

 _Eddie shrugged. "If you're in a horror movie, you make bad decisions. It's what you do."_

 ** _"But why? Doesn't that impede survival?"_**

 _"Pretty much. It's just a horror movie thing, V. Probably because it would be too short if the characters made sensible decisions. Or it's just bad writing."_

 ** _"NO! You're supposed to hang on to the gun, not drop it!"_** _V suddenly yelled at one of the characters. Eddie couldn't quite hide a chuckle and V turned to look at him. **"What?"**_

 _"Nothing. You're just cute."_

 _The symbiote formed a mouth and pouted. **"Am not!"**_

 _"Sorry, bud. You are."_

 ** _"Am not!"_**

 _"Are too."_

 ** _"Eddddiiieee! I am not!"_** _V protested, unintentionally making themselves look even cuter. Eddie just chuckled._

 _"All right, sorry." Eddie unwrapped a Hershey's Kiss and held it out as an apology gift. V let out a purr and took it surprisingly gently from Eddie's fingers. They then snuggled close as they ate the Hershey's kiss and watched the end of the movie._

 ** _"Eddie?"_** _V asked softly._

 _"Yes, V?"_

 ** _"I love you."_**

 _Eddie blushed at the blunt, innocent statement and then tried to hide his blush. He had no idea whether the symbiote meant it as romantic, familial, or friendly love, and he wasn't sure V themself knew, but he knew that V meant it with all their soul._

 _Eddie almost teared up. It was the first "I love you." he had heard in a long, long time._

 _V looked up at him nervously. Their thoughts were filled with fear of rejection. Trying to reassure them, he held them closer and kissed the top of their smooth head._

 _"I love you too, buddy."_

 _And he did._

 _..._

Eddie wasn't sure whether to cry or smile at the memory. He wished he had had more time with V, more soft memories like that, sharing cuddles and kisses, teaching V about humans and the planet they had landed on...

Maybe if he had...if he hadn't decided to get revenge on Spider-Man, maybe he would still have V. Maybe they'd be cuddled together watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 somewhere or be one of the greatest superheroes instead of separated and alone.

He remembered what Dr. Kafka had said a little while ago. _Hatred's not going to help, Eddie. You have so much potential._

And she was right. In trying to get revenge on Spider-Man, they had lost sight of the heroes they had both so badly wanted to be. And it was because of that that they were separated.

Eddie wasn't always good at taking responsibility for his actions. V, however, was and in fact when they had first met, had confessed and apologized to tying Eddie to the bell, having thought he was a threat in the heat of battle. V was strong enough to admit to their mistakes.

And Eddie couldn't, wouldn't, blame V for their plan. V had been angry at Spider-Man too, but getting revenge had started out his idea, not V's. V of course had gone along with it and the two had managed to feed off each other in their anger, but it wasn't all on the symbiote. It was on Eddie too.

And it was time to change. To let the revenge go and when they got back together, to be the protector of the innocent that they had wanted to be.

Because they had potential. They both did, and together, they were greater than the sum of their parts.

They would never succeed on the path of vengeance. Eddie finally understood that.

Eddie made plans in his head. He couldn't escape, so the best thing would be to make himself a model prisoner. Try to get out on good behavior and make a plan to find V if V didn't find him first. Then once he had V, they would disappear. Find a place where no one could hurt them again. Maybe go to California or Florida or some place near the ocean. He hadn't been to the beach since he was a kid, and of course V had never been. They would love it. V always liked the water, even the gross polluted river.

They could start a new life for themselves. Create their own future away from Spider-Man. Away from their terrible pasts.

If...When! he got V back, he would talk to V about all this. V had been the one Spider-Man hurt the most after all, but something inside him knew V would agree to move on, to live their lives together outside the shadow of revenge.

...

Madame Webb smiled as she watched the future change in front of her. Eddie and the symbiote didn't know it yet, but they had just changed fate.

The Beyonder would be impressed.

Love COULD truly triumph over hate.

She couldn't wait to see what this new future would hold. It would be very interesting.

...

Baron Mordo however, was not so impressed. With his powers, he could literally feel it when Brock's revelation hit and the rage and hatred that surrounded the former reporter disappated like fog.

He had the feeling Dormammu would be able to feel it too.

This might not bode well for the plan, but maybe, just maybe, they could still use it. The love Eddie Brock held for the symbiote and vice versa was like a thick choking cloud. Maybe he could exploit that love to make Brock agree to work with him.

After all, Brock would do anything for his symbiote.


End file.
